Cabinet and drawer extension



April 13, 1954 R, E. MCCLELLAN 2,675,277

CABINET AND DRAWER EXTENSION Filed Sept. 26, 1950 FIE-3- Z5 25 I IEI l 34 m 23 2 53 4 29 725 g I v I P\ I 52 r Z 5'! U i i, 35 i w/ 25 5 INVENTOR:

. 37 52 RALPHENBELELLAM. 1 l4 fatented Apr. 13, 1 954 CABINET AND DRAWER EXTENSION Ralph E. McClellan, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Meilink Steel Safe Company, Toledo, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application September 26, 1950, Serial No. 186,830

This invention relates to relatively telescopic bearing-providing members, and particularly to anti-friction units for ready placement and removal.

This invention has utility when incorporated in extensions for drawers, as for filing cabinets. The unit is shown as a three element nesting wherein one member, say the outer, is adapted for ready attachment or mounting upon the inner wall of a support or cabinet. The third or inner member may have a seat for carrying a drawer. Intermediate the outer or first member and the inner or third member, is a second member with anti-friction spacing from the first and third members, which intermediate member is controlled, as by intermeshing means for proportional travel at 2. held ratio.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig 1 is a vertical section thru a filing cabinet, say .of the four drawer type, with drawer and parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation looking into the channel side of the intermediate member, to show the anti-friction ball stops, as well as the travel control pinion;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation looking into the third member channel, showing its ball raceway end stops, this third member channel being open oppositely to the second member channel;

Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged scale from the region of the line IV--IV, Fig. 1, showing the first member interlock connection with the cabinet at the first member rear portion;

Fig. 5 is a section on an enlarged scale on the line V-V Fig. 1, showing the first member forward portion cabinet interlock mounting, as well as the second member transmission pinion and one of the six ball anti-friction sets;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged view from the line VI-VI, Fig. 1 of the second member pinion and the drawer mounting; and

Fig. 7 isa section on the line VII-VII, Fig. 6.

The cabinet A four drawer type of sheet metal filing cabinet is shown with an outer wall I, an inner wall 2, and a heat insulation filler 3 therebetween. The cabinet has a front opening 4 with drawer spacing front cross ledges 5. The cabinet inner wall 2 (Figs. 1, 4) has an opening -B. The drawer pocket or cabinet casing, near the opening 4, has in the cabinet inner wall 2 (Figs. 1, 5) an offset or minor hood section 1 with an opening 8 shielded thereby. Spaced downwardly from the hood 1 there is a spring tongue 9 defiected oppositely from the hood 1 as to the wall 2.

The cabinet-carried first member The major or first member is shown as gen- 3 Claims. (01. 3083.8)

erally of channel form having a web I0, an upper flange ll leading to a downwardly di-. rected minor flanged free end I21. Complementary thereto this first member has a lower flange I3 leading to an upwardly directed fianged free end Id. The four corners thus provided by this channel each provide two-point bearing ball raceway sections. The forward end of the channel has stops l5 to preclude balls from rolling clear of the raceways.

The forward major portion of the web It has an inward offset l6 (Figs. 1, 5) as a coacting seat means, herein shown as a rack ll.

Detachable mounting features for the first member with the cabinet comprise an offset tongue l8 (Figs. 1, 4) adapted to be thrust into the opening 6 in horizontally pushing the first member from the opening 4 into the cabinet. When so lodged, the forward end of the member may be depressed slightly to have an outwardly offset tongue l9 ride thru the opening 8. An opening 243, also in the web 9 and below the tongue I 9, then has the spring tongue 3 engage in such opening 20. As bounding the oiiset i6 and away therefrom, this first member is now firmly seated against the inner face of the cabinet wall 2, in thereby providing a substantial mounting for a drawer.

The drawer-carried third member A file drawer is shown with a double wall insulated front 2! provided with a handle 22. From the front there extends a drawer bottom 23 and side portions 24. The drawer is provided with a back 25.

While anchored with the drawer, in reality instead of being carried by the drawer, this third channel member carries the drawer. The channel as fixed with the drawer comprises a web portion 26 with a top V-ball race providing fiange 21. Complementary to this upwardly open raceway 21, there is a downwardly open V-ball race way fiange 28 (Fig. 5). The major after portion of the web 26 has an inward oiiset 29 centrally along which is coacting seat means, shown as a rack 30, spaced from and in centrally overlapping relation to the rack I! in the closed position of the drawer.

Instead of being integral with the channel 26, 21, 28, there is fixed therewith by weld means 3! an L-section providing a ledge 32 upon which the drawer bottom 23 may rest. Detachable interlocking assembly is provided thru a hook 33 at the inner end of the ledge 32. As a drawer is thrust rearward along the ledge 32, the drawer bottom 23 lodges under the hook 33 as the hook passes thru an opening 34 in the drawer back 25 (Fig. 7). At this rearward limit of the drawer on the ledge 32, the drawer front may settle down to have a lug or projection 35 register with an opening 36 in the ledge 32. The drawer bottom 23 is now snugly against the ledge 32 for the full length of the drawer in interlocked relation,-so that at any drawer pulling or back thrusting, there is retained a positive and firm assembly of the drawer with the ledge and its third member channel. In practice the channels at the drawer are rights and lettsior cooperation with the proximate sides 9f the cabinet, upon which the cabinet carried firstchannel members are detachably fixed in registered relation as the drawer is closed.

The floating intermediate second member The extension system or unit as herein disproviding additional multiple bail race ways. The

outer faces oi'these'V-flanges it, 355, are adapted to'coact as complementary to pairs of raceways in the first member portions it, ii, l2, and the portions Hi, 13, "hi. The inner faces of the V- flange 3-8 coact compiementary to the iiange 2'1 in forming'a hall race way; while the l-flange 39 similarly 'coa'cts as complementary to the flanget'tin forming additional or iower ball 1'a0e*W3;Y.

The Web 3'? has an inward offset to to provide clearance relatively to the ofiset iii. Centrally f the longitudinal extent of the second member there is a tongue ii thrown out of the oifset iii to leave an opening i-2. Media-21y transversely of the three channel nesting assemcly, the tongue H locates a pinion lsto extend one way toward the web 26' for meshing relation with the rac 3d. The other way the pinion QS-simultaneously extends thru the window or opening ifi into mesh-- ing relation with the rack ii of the web Hi. The i second member '3? 3%, til.

Eire anti-friction bearings Similar diameterariti-iriction bails 4.4 are provided in two sets of six ballseach. Stops preclude rolling out of the halls it from the forward end .of the channel-i I, ill, 3, while the rearward. end of thischannel is against the cabinet inner wall2. Inasmuch as the second member race way providing flange is toward and thru the front end of the channel H, Hi, EZ-hthe stops it coac't to retain the balls Stops 1 .5 (Fig.2) centrally or" the "length .of the flange '38 and on each of the Vesicles thereof restricttravel offithe intermediatesetsof halls its. .At the rear end of the fiange'ttand on each of the v -sides-here are stops 745. The rearwardor second setof balls is'therebyilocated to operate one wayfrom the 4 pinion 43, as the forward set operates the other way. The flange-.39 also.carries the stops 45, 46. The pairsiof the b alls 44 atthe raceways having outer sides toward the flanges I I and I3, are thus confined, in their rolling cycles.

'The inner balls 64 riding between the flanges $33,121 iandthe flanges 39, 28, are centrally kept from working away from the respective sets -therefor by stops "411 (Fig. 2) at the inner faces of the lflanges $8,139. In order to retain these balls 44 of the inner race ways from rolling clear 'cf'theunit, the-third-channel member 21, 2B, 28,

has stopsst (Fig. 3) at the opposite ends of the fiangeszl, 28.

There is thus provided four point bearing for the balls M'assjpacing the flanges 21, 38; 28, 39. The opposing reverse V aligned race ways smoothly take on'heavy loading. The wori; response thus taken by the floating extension'or intermediate channel-33,'6'!,"3'9, has such transferred to ball pairs acting on the converse or outer V walls diverging from'race way pairs. These balls #14 act as three pointbearings, with positive holding against side sway relatively to the-case in drawer shiftings. The proportional travel for the floating second channel 38, 31, 3S, taken on by the balls 44, is consistently carried thru due tothe pinion 43 andtheracks.

What isclaimed and "it is desired'to secure by Letters Patent is;

1. A-drawer slide -assembly fora cabinet comprising three relatively movable members between said drawer and said cabinet, a first of said members having'a cross section with four right angled corners as -i-n-a rectangle providing ball bearing races, a second of said members being disposed within'said first member and having a cross section comprising a first pair of V-shaped portions wherein each outer side of each 'V- shaped portion provides a-cooperating race surface diagonally across on of said corners, and each pair ofadg'acent inner sides of said V- shaped portions provides an additional race, the third or saidmembei's having -at least a portion thereof disposed Within said second mem-ber and having across section comprising 'asecond pair of 'V-shapedportions providing cooperating race suriaces'with-saidinner sides,- and hearing balls in said races.

-2.--An assembly according to claim 1 including a rotating means mounted onsaid second-member between said first and third members.

assembly-according to claim 2 wherein said rotating means is eapinion gear and said first and thirdmembers have racks cooperating therewith.

References rcitediin athe zfile of this :patent UNITED .STATES BATENTS 

